Monthly current affairs for June 2026

The Sangeet Natak Akademi has announced the fellowships and awards for 2024 and 2025. The Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna), the highest lifetime achievement honour in performing arts in India (restricted to 40 living individuals), has been conferred upon 7 eminent artists. The award carries a cash prize of ₹3 lakh, a Tamrapatra, and an Angavastram.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) were conferred upon 108 artists for their work in Hindustani and Carnatic music, classical and folk dance, theatre, and puppetry. The award includes a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, a Tamrapatra, and an Angavastram.

Additionally, the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, which honours young artists up to the age of 40, was presented to 106 recipients. Each recipient receives a cash prize of ₹25,000, a Tamrapatra, and an Angavastram.

Savitha Baskar, a 19-year-old Indian International Master (IM), has won the gold medal on tie-breaks at the Women’s Asian Individual Chess Championship 2026, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan secured the silver medal, while Song Yuxin of China claimed the bronze. In the Open section of the championship, Kong Xiangrui of China won the gold medal.

Salim Kumar, a veteran Malayalam actor, passed away at the age of 56.

He was the recipient of the National Film Award for Best Actor in 2010 for his performance in the film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’.

PM Narendra Modi has visited the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. He inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 56 development projects worth ₹2,970 crore, aiming to improve healthcare, air connectivity, tourism, and public infrastructure in the region.

Key projects include the new terminal building of NAMO Airport and the NAMO Hospital, developed at a combined cost of ₹1,340 crore.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation data, with 2022-23 as the revised base year.

Wholesale price inflation in India rose to 9.68% in May 2026, from 8.26% in April 2026. Sector-wise, fuel and power inflation stood at 30.33%, with crude petroleum inflation at 61.51%. Food inflation was recorded at 3.60%, while manufactured products saw an inflation rate of 7.48%. Retail inflation was reported at 3.93%.

The Oman India Joint Investment Fund II (OIJIF II), a private equity firm promoted by the sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman and the State Bank of India, has divested a 3.65% stake in Capital Small Finance Bank (SFB).

The RBI has issued the “Third Amendment Directions, 2026” to govern bank lending to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), while strengthening risk and exposure norms.

Banks are permitted to extend credit only to those REITs and InvITs that are registered with the SEBI and listed on recognized Stock Exchanges. Lending to REITs is restricted to listed trusts where at least 80% of assets consist of cash-generating properties that have been operational for more than 1 year.

Banks may lend to listed InvITs only if at least 80% of their assets are invested in completed and revenue-generating infrastructure projects that have demonstrated positive cash flows for a period exceeding 1 year.

The RBI has recognised the Sahamati Foundation as the Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for the country’s Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem.

NLC India has signed an MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, to develop technologies for the extraction of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and critical minerals from mining waste.

According to the “SIPRI Yearbook 2026: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security” released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military expenditure surged to $2.9 trillion in 2025. The USA remained the world’s largest military spender with an expenditure of $954 billion, followed by China and Russia.

India ranked as the world’s 5th largest military spender in 2025, with a defence expenditure of $92.1 billion, representing an 8.9% increase compared to 2024. Furthermore, the nuclear arsenal of India increased to 190 warheads as of January 2026.

Delcy Eloina Gomez, the Acting President of Venezuela, has visited India to strengthen bilateral energy cooperation. She held bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

She also met Union Minister S Jaishankar and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. She visited the Jamnagar oil refinery in Gujarat, owned by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which is the world’s largest single-point oil refining facility.

The Headquarters Directorate General of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has approved the establishment of independent State Directorates in Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. This expansion increases the total number of NCC State Directorates in India from 17 to 19.

Novartis India has launched 'Pluvicto', the first regulatory authority-approved radioligand therapy (RLT) in India for advanced prostate cancer.

This precision medicine is indicated for patients with Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Gautam Dey, an Indian-origin scientist affiliated with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Germany, has been awarded the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Gold Medal 2026.

He received the recognition for his research on the evolutionary origins of nuclear organization and cell division. He shares the award with Omaya Dudin from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The awardees receive a medal and a bursary of €10,000.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an Italian driver representing the Mercedes Formula 1 (F1) team, has won the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix (GP). He becomes the youngest winner in the history of the event.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand, a lawyer and diplomat, passed away at the age of 47. She was the eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

World Oceans Day:

Day – 8 June

Theme 2026 – “Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean”

Observed since – 2009

Union Minister JP Nadda has launched nationwide celebrations in New Delhi to mark the 10th anniversary of the PM Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), under the theme "10 Years of PMSMA: A Decade of Care".

Launched in 2016 by PM Narendra Modi, the PMSMA provides free, comprehensive, and quality antenatal care services to pregnant women on the 9th day of every month. During the event, the minister released a special ₹75 commemorative coin and a ₹5 postage stamp. Nationwide campaigns are being conducted to encourage pregnant women to avail the 9 assured free antenatal care services offered under the scheme.

Ashok Leyland and Switch Mobility have partnered with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as the first Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to offer discounts under the New Delhi-NCR vehicle replacement scheme.

The scheme, with an outlay of ₹9,585 crore, aims to replace over 2 lakh old commercial vehicles. Under this initiative, the companies are offering an 8% discount on the ex-showroom price of eligible new trucks and buses.

Indian Railways has approved the installation of the ‘Kavach’ automatic train protection system on the balance Broad Gauge sections of the Ambala Division (Northern Railway), spanning 811 route km at a cost of ₹201 crore.

Additionally, it has approved the installation of ‘Kavach’ Version 4.0 on 598 route km across 48 block sections of the Ahmedabad Division (Western Railway) in Gujarat, at a cost of ₹140 crore.